SPENCER COUNTY, Ind (WEHT) – Governor Eric Holcomb will present the 2022 Sachem Award to a Spencer County woman during a ceremony on Friday.
The award will be presented to 91-year-old Pat Koch, an active member of the Spencer County Chamber of Commerce, America’s Christmas Hometown Committee in Santa Claus, Wisdom Program in Diocese of Evansville, Santa Claus Museum and Village and she sits on the executive advisory council at the Sisters of St. Benedict. Koch also oversees the Patricia Koch Family Education Endowment which offers financial assistance to students attending Reitz Memorial High School and Mater Dei High School.
“Pat Koch is a Southern Indiana powerhouse who put Santa Claus, Indiana on the map. While her pathway to success has had many turns and detours, the fundamental theme in her life’s work is to serve others,” said Gov. Holcomb. “Pat embraces her fellow Hoosiers with love and kindness. From the countless smiles you will find at Holiday World or the love you feel from each letter she writes to a child who asks Santa Claus for that special gift, Pat is a reason the spirit of Christmas is alive and well and why she deserves Indiana’s highest honor.”
The Sachem is given annually to recognize an individual whose lifetime of excellence and moral virtue that has brought credit and honor to Indiana. Koch is the sixth Sachem honoree named by Gov. Holcomb.
